Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor Review
Did you realize many of the appliances and electronics in your home are still using energy even when they are off? It's true.
As long as they are plugged in, many electronics are still using energy and costing you money. This energy usage has been called "vampire power" by some.
A excellent device for measuring how much electricity your devices are using is the Kill A Watt Power Meter. It's a simple device for anyone to use and at under $20, it's very affordable.
You simply plug the power meter into a normal wall outlet. Then you plug whatever device you want to test. It will immediately give you feedback and let you know how many amps the device is pulling. You might be surprised that more of your devices than not are "pulling amps" and therefore using electricity even when they are off.
I like to leave most devices plugged into the meter for a few days just to get a good average of how much electricity they are using. After a few days, the Kill A Watt meter will give you a read out in Kilowatt-Hours. Simply multiply the KWh by your local electricity rates and you can easily determine how much it cost to keep that device running for the time you measured it.
I found the amount of electricity used by my cable modem and router was negligible and not even worth considering. What I did find is the cost to keep the computer and monitors running in my office was about $12 a month! That may not seem like a lot, but keep in mind this is one device.
I also have a theater in my home and have a closet full of electronics like a receiver, CD player, DVD player, RF remote repeater, etc. This closet was using around $14 of electricity a month when it was off! So what is the solution?
Well, when I realized how much energy my computer was using even in standby mode, I started shutting it down every night. As far as the closet in my theater, there is really one good choice. That is to plug everything into a surge protector and then switch the surge protector off when the items are not in use. This isolates the electronics from the wall outlets and prevents them from using any energy.
A much more unrealistic option would be to unplug everything, but with the amount of items in the closet and the close proximity of the items, it isn't feasible to do so.
MY REVIEW
This item is priced below $20 and is simple to use. It has the possibility of saving you a lot of money in electricity costs if used correctly. I agree with the Amazon rating below and would highly recommend this product for anyone that pays an electricity bill. I\'d give it 5 stars.
A excellent device for measuring how much electricity your devices are using is the Kill A Watt Power Meter. It's a simple device for anyone to use and at under $20, it's very affordable.
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